by Pamela Bauer
“So I went home with one baby that was mine and one that wasn’t,” Arlene concluded.
Again she dabbed at her eyes, and Joe said, “Frannie told me one of your sons died as an infant. I’m sorry. That must have been very painful for you.”
She nodded. “He was called Daniel. He was such a good baby. He never fussed. Dennis could be screaming at the top of his lungs, and Daniel would just look around with those bright blue eyes of his.”
Joe looked at Arlene’s brown eyes and was about to ask her if the baby’s eye color hadn’t raised her suspicions, when she said, “My husband had blue eyes and I thought the babies were fraternal twins. I had no way of knowing that there’d been some kind of mix-up at the hospital. If I had, I wouldn’t have—”
Frannie said, “You can’t blame yourself, Arlene. If Joe’s parents didn’t realize something was wrong, why would you?”
“All newborn babies look the same to me.” Joe tried to ease her guilt. “Unless there was a birthmark or some other distinguishing characteristic, how would anyone know there’d been a mistake?”
“A mother should know,” Arlene said, her voice full of remorse.
“Obviously no one knew,” Frannie reminded her. “But that’s not your fault or Joe’s.”
“We need to find out how it happened and why,” Arlene stated with determination.
It was something that Joe wanted to know, too, but he also knew that such an investigation could be disastrous for his father. “It was over thirty years ago. I doubt the hospital records will tell us much.”
“That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t look for answers,” Arlene argued.
To Joe’s relief, Frannie spoke. “Normally, I’d agree with you, Arlene, but this involves other people, too. Joe’s dad, for one.”
“I’d like you to meet him,” Joe said, rising. “He’s resting in his room, but I’ll go see if he’s able to come say hello.”
Although Joe would have preferred not to wake the Admiral from his nap, he knew that if Arlene were to see for herself how fragile his father’s health was, she’d have a better understanding of why he didn’t want her searching old hospital records.
After a brief visit with his father, during which they had coffee and talked about naval life, Arlene announced it was time to leave. Joe left his father in the house sorting coins for his collection, while he walked the two women to their car.
“Your father is a sweet man, Joe. You don’t need to worry about me. I wouldn’t do anything to cause him heartache. There’s been enough of that already,” she told him. “You have a wonderful relationship. I only wish my Dennis had had such a man for his dad.”
“Is he still alive—Dennis’s father?” Joe asked.
“It’s been several years since I had any news of him, and then it was that he’d been seriously ill. Had cancer I believe.”
“You didn’t mention that to me,” Frannie commented.
Arlene shrugged. “I wasn’t sure you’d find it important, seeing as he was never a part of the children’s lives.”
Frannie nodded in understanding.
Arlene said to Joe, “If you have any questions about him, I’d be willing to talk to you about him. It’s up to you, Joe.”
Joe looked out at the pines and clear blue water. “In time, maybe, but for now I don’t see any reason to go digging into the past.”
“I agree,” Arlene seconded. “You have my word, Joe. I know it’s not easy learning the past wasn’t what you thought it was, but I do hope that now that we know the truth, you’ll find a place for me in your life.”
Joe knew this was his opportunity to say politely that he had all the family he needed. And he should have said that. When he’d moved his father to the North Shore, they’d broken ties with every member of both the Hawthorn and Delaney families, knowing that any investigation would start with their relatives.
When he didn’t answer right away, Arlene said, “You don’t need to tell me today, Joe. I know it’s going to take a little time for you to get used to the idea of having more family.”
He was grateful that she was making it easier for him. “It’s not that I don’t want you to be a part of my life, Arlene. It’s just that I’m concerned about what this is going to do to my dad. I have to do whatever I can to make sure he’s not hurt by this.”
“All of us can make that our priority, Joe,” Frannie agreed.
Joe turned to Arlene. “So you understand if I want to take some time to get used to things?”
“Of course I do. I’m just so thrilled to discover that I have another son,” she said, emotion choking her words. She gave him a quick hug, then climbed into the van.
Joe turned to Frannie. “This is all a bit overwhelming.”
“It’s going to be okay,” she said, placing her hand on his arm.
He stared into her eyes and felt a longing for her that had nothing to do with sex. He took her fingers in his hand and gently squeezed them.
“The worms haven’t scared you away?” he asked her, giving her a crooked smile.
“No, I can handle worms.” She moved closer to him and said, “You can give me a kiss. Arlene’s already seen more than that.”
He pulled her into his arms and planted a tender kiss on her lips.
“I’ll let that kiss go, but only today,” she said with a mischievous smile. Then her face turned sober and she said, “What about Alex? What do we tell him? He thinks the DNA test was botched, and since we didn’t do the second one, I know he’s been putting two and two together and coming up with five.”
“I really would like as few people as possible to know about this stuff,” he said, rubbing a hand across his neck.
“You are his uncle,” she reminded him.
He sighed. “Yes, and I should probably be the one to tell him that. You said you’re spending the weekend at the lodge?” When Frannie nodded, he added, “Can you bring Emma and Alex over tomorrow afternoon?”
“You’ll speak to both of them?”
“I am their uncle.”
Frannie smiled. “Yes, you are.”
He brought her fingers to his lips and kissed them. “Everything will be okay.”
He only wished he believed that himself.
“SO WHAT’S THE DEAL? What’s going on with you and Gramma?”
Joe answered Alex’s question with a question. “What makes you think something’s going on?”
Alex didn’t see any reason to pretend he didn’t know why Joe had suggested they fish off the dock. From the way his mother and grandmother had been acting, he knew something was up and he was determined to find out what it was. “That is why you brought me down here, isn’t it? To tell me what the DNA test means?”
“You’re pretty smart for a ten-year-old,” Joe remarked.
“I’m almost eleven. Next week’s my birthday.”
Joe lowered himself onto the wooden bench, setting his tackle box at his feet. “Take a seat, and I’ll tell you what you want to know.”
Alex sat down beside him, eyeing him suspiciously.
Joe looked straight at him and said, “I’m not your father, Alex. I wish I were, because you’re a kid any dad would be proud to call his own.”
Alex jumped to his feet. “Don’t say that! My mom says that all the time and it doesn’t mean anything because I still don’t have a dad.”
“It’s not your fault you don’t have a dad, Alex,” he said, his voice sounding all mushy as if he thought Alex was going to cry.
Joe didn’t know Alex very well if he thought that. Alex didn’t cry over a deadbeat dad. “No, it’s your fault,” he snarled, turning his back on Joe.
Alex felt a hand on his arm.
“Look at me, Alex.”
Slowly, he turned around. Joe again looked him straight in the eye and said, “I’m not Dennis Harper. Now, you can believe I’m telling you the truth, or you can go ask your mother or your grandmother and you’ll get the same answer.”
He thoug
ht about doing just that, but feared that they would tell him the same thing. “If you’re not my dad, then why did Gramma want to drive all the way up here to see you?”
“This is where it gets complicated, but I know you’ll understand because you’re a smart kid.” Joe patted the bench next to him. “If you sit down, I’ll explain it to you.”
Alex folded his arms across his chest and said, “I’d rather stand.”
He was glad Joe didn’t try to get him to change his mind.
“You love your mother, right?” When he nodded, Joe added, “And you would do anything you could to see that she didn’t get hurt, right?” Again, Alex nodded. “In fact, that’s why you hung the posters looking for your dad—because you thought his being gone was hurting your mother, right?”
“Yeah, so what?”
“I love my dad, Alex, the same way you love your mom. You’ve met the Admiral.”
He nodded. “We played games the night of that storm.”
“I’d do anything I could to keep him from getting hurt.”
“Who’s going to hurt him?”
“Not who, but what. In this case, information.”
Alex wrinkled his brow. “What information?”
“That your grandmother is my mother. The reason I look just like your dad, Alex, is that I’m his twin brother. I’m your uncle.”
“You can’t be!” Alex had never heard such crap. “Uncle Daniel died when he was a baby. Just ask Gramma.”
“Yes, your uncle died. But that uncle wasn’t really your father’s twin. I am.”
Alex listened as Joe explained how such a thing could have happened. To Alex, it sounded like something made up, but he knew his mom and his grandmother were pretty smart and that they wouldn’t believe it unless it was true.
“So you can see how this information could really hurt my dad, can’t you?” Joe said to him when he’d finished telling him about the babies.
“The Admiral doesn’t know you’re not his son?”
“Oh, but I am his son,” Joe insisted. “I may not have his DNA, but that doesn’t mean he’s not my father. What makes a man a father isn’t necessarily genetics. A father is someone who’s there for his son, who gives of himself without complaining and who loves unconditionally. You know what unconditional love is?”
Alex shook his head.
“It means that no matter how bad you screw up, your father understands.”
“Is that the way it is with you and the Admiral?”
Joe nodded. “And I’ve made some pretty big mistakes in my time. That’s why I don’t care what the DNA test shows. The Admiral is always going to be my father, but I’m worried that if he finds out what happened in the hospital all those years ago, he’ll be hurt. And I don’t want that to happen. You can understand, right?”
He nodded. “He’s easily confused.”
“Yes, he is.”
“You want this to be a secret from him?”
“Yes. Will you do that for me?”
Again Alex nodded. “Mom knows about all of this?”
“Yes.”
“Then, she’s keeping the secret, too?”
“Yes, she is. And your grandmother, too.”
He glanced back up at the house and saw his gramma sitting on the deck. She waved when she saw him, so he waved back.
“She’s up there watching us,” Alex said to Joe.
“It’s been an emotional couple of days for her. It’s not every day you discover you have another son,” he said.
“How does it feel to have another mom?”
“A little strange, but I think once I get used to it, it’ll be okay.”
“Gramma’s really cool.”
“Does she know how to fish?”
“I do,” he boasted, picking up one of the fishing rods. “What can we get off the dock? Pan fish?”
“I’ve been known to snag a walleye or two,” he answered, reaching for the other rod. “This is a first for me, though. I’ve never fished with a nephew before. Actually, I’ve never had a nephew before.”
“So are you going to come around a lot?”
“I’d like to.”
He looked sideways at Joe and said, “Because of Mom?”
“A little. I like being with your mom, but I also like being with you and Emma and Luke. I know I can’t replace your father, Alex, but I think I can be a pretty darn good uncle if you let me.”
Alex believed he would be, too.
“MOM! LOOK AT THE FISH I caught!” Alex reached for the chain wrapped around the dock post and pulled a long, slender fish out of the water. “It’s a northern! Joe said it’s the biggest one he’s ever seen anybody catch off a dock.”
Frannie kept her distance from her son as the fish wiggled and flapped about on the end of the stringer. “Is that dinner?”
“Maybe, if we get a couple more,” Joe answered. “That one’s just barely over the size limit.”
“Are we staying for dinner?” Alex asked as he lowered the fish back into the lake.
Frannie suddenly felt self-conscious, as if she’d invited herself to stay. “I don’t know. We’ll have to see if your grandmother has made any plans.”
“I bet she’ll want to eat with Uncle Joe,” Alex declared. “You want me to go ask her?”
Frannie was about to say that it wasn’t necessary when Joe said, “That’s a good idea, Alex.”
As soon as he was gone, Frannie said, “I came to see how things had gone, but I guess I don’t need to ask.”
“I think he’s okay with everything. What about Emma?”
She sat down beside him on the bench seat. “She’s more than okay.”
“What did she say?”
Frannie mentally debated whether she should tell him. “That she’s glad you’re her uncle and not her father because that means you won’t leave.”
“She’s right. I won’t leave.” He didn’t look at her, but stared out at his line.
“But the other day—” she began.
“That was the other day. Things have changed.”
He looked at her then, and she was glad she was sitting down for she was certain the weakness in her legs would have caused her to fall.
“I’m not leaving, Frannie.”
“The kids, or me?” she found the courage to ask.
“Neither. I think we should take things slowly, especially after everything that’s happened these past few days.”
The way he was looking at her made her breath catch in her throat. “It’s okay with me as long as you intend to stick around.”
He smiled, the most wonderful smile she’d ever seen on his face.
“Are you saying you’re willing to take a chance on a guy who can’t promise you anything except that he won’t leave when things get tough?”
“That’s enough for now,” she replied simply.
“I’d seal the deal with a kiss, but even though I know Alex is comfortable with me being his uncle, I’m not sure he’s ready for me to be anything more.”
She knew he was right. “I should warn you that courting a mother of three does not leave for many quiet, romantic moments.”
“If you’re telling me I have to sneak my kisses, I should tell you that I’m a man who knows how to make the most of his opportunities,” he retorted.
IN THE WEEKS that followed, Frannie discovered that Joe was true to his word. The more time she spent with him, the less satisfied she was with stolen moments.
Frannie was amazed at how easily he fit into their life. It seemed natural for him to be there for Alex and Emma’s birthday, to carry Luke around on his shoulders, to repair the broken screen on the kitchen door. While he listened patiently to Arlene as she tried to say in a few days what she’d missed over the past three decades, Frannie fell even more deeply in love with him.
Everyone was happy that Joe was a part of their lives—everyone except Lois, who couldn’t understand why Frannie wasn’t bothered by the fact that her ex-mot
her-in-law was also the mother of her boyfriend—a boyfriend who looked exactly like her ex-husband. Frannie tried to explain to her sister that Joe was nothing like Dennis, but she could see that Lois didn’t trust him.
That’s why she wasn’t surprised when Lois showed up on her doorstep one afternoon waving a manila folder and saying, “You’re not going to like what I found out about your boyfriend.”
“Why would you have found out anything? I didn’t ask you to go looking for information,” Frannie said, as her sister stepped past her into the house.
“Where’s Luke?” she asked, looking around for signs of the toddler.
“Taking a nap.”
“Good. You better sit down,” Lois instructed, taking a seat on sofa.
“You didn’t answer my question. Why would you check up on Joe?”
“Because Arlene is my client and I always look after my clients’ interests,” she answered.
Frannie had an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. “What interests?”
“That’s privileged information,” her sister answered in an annoying professional voice.
“Are you telling me that because Arlene came to you to discuss what happens now that she’s discovered she has another son, you took it upon yourself to investigate Joe’s background?”
“I did what any good lawyer would do.”
Frannie put her hands on her waist. “Wait a minute. Aren’t you forgetting something? Joe didn’t come looking for Arlene. We found him. If you’re trying to imply that he’s some gold digger out to capitalize on a middle-aged divorcée, you’re way off base.”
“I only took steps to make sure that legally he is her son.”
“Of course he’s her son! You saw the DNA report.”
“And I heard the story of the crowded conditions at that overseas hospital and the power shortage and the assumption that the babies had been switched,” she stated flatly.
“What more proof do you need? Anyone can see by looking at him, he’s Dennis’s twin,” Frannie argued.
“I wanted to have as much evidence as I could find.”
“I thought Arlene explained to you that she didn’t want to go digging into anyone’s past.”
